Company Draws Fire For Snortable Chocolate

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WWR Article Summary (tl;dr)Critics of a snortable chocolate powder have raised alarm regarding its effect on young people when used in large quantities. The substance is made from raw cacao powder (from cacao pods) and energy-drink ingredients such as taurine and guarana.

ORLANDO, Fla.

A snortable chocolate powder developed by an Orlando resident is drawing fire from a top lawmaker in Washington, D.C.

Orlando-based Legal Lean is selling a powdered chocolate meant to be snorted under the name Coco Loko. It’s for sale on Legal Lean’s website, as well as Amazon, where a 1.25 ounce container costs $24.99.

At least one Orlando-area doctor said snorting cocoa powder may cause harm, while U.S. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., sent a letter to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Monday calling for an investigation into Coco Loko.

“The math for the FDA is clear: This suspect product has no clear health value. It is falsely held up to be chocolate, when it is a powerful stimulant. And they market it like a drug, and they tell users to take it like a drug, by snorting it,” said a statement from Schumer. “It is crystal clear that the FDA needs to wake up and launch a formal investigation into so-called Coco Loko before too many of our young people are damaged by it.”

Schumer said he’s worried Coco Loko is being marketed like a drug and could appeal to children.

“Normalizing stimulants and drug consumption-like behavior is anything but harmless for our young people,” Schumer said.